Gymnastics Leotards

Dorothy has been doing gymnastics for a while and has just been wearing sweats to class.  The problem is that she only has a couple of pairs of sweats and they were often dirty and I was scrambling to get them washed and dried in time for her classes.  I have a bunch of leotard fabric that has been sitting around for several years now, and was never used, so I decided to try my hand at making her a couple of gymnastics leotards.

Here is my first attempt at making a leotard.  I decided to go with the bike shorts style because it offers more coverage (she has no rear end) and it meant I didn't have to add elastic, which I hate doing.  It's a dark navy stretch velvet and is so, so soft.

I appliqued a girl doing a handstand, since it seemed appropriate for a gymnastics leotard.  I used a scrap of lime green lycra with little holographic dots.  Dorothy likes that it is shiny and sparkly.  She wasn't willing to hold still and model for me, but I did manage some quick pictures with my phone.  The quality isn't great, and many were taken through the viewing windows, but hopefully they show the fit.  

For a first try, it came out really well.  I couldn't get the casings right on the arm and neck holes, so I cheated a bit.  They look fine from a distance, but I'm not entirely happy with them.  I did better in later attempts.

Ready to head into class, and the only semi-decent front shot I was able to get.

Warming up.  I like the line of the back of the leotard.

Waiting her turn.

She loves bars and the leotard seemed to move with her very well all through class.

My second attempt did not go nearly so well.  I let Dorothy pick out the fabric she wanted me to use, and she insisted on a hunter green crushed velvet.  It isn't something I ever would have picked for her, but she really fell for it for some reason.  She then wanted an orange fox on it, so I did that too (though when she saw it, she insisted that it was a cat).  This material was only a two-way stretch, instead of four, but I thought I could make it work.  I was wrong.  When I tried it on her, the legs were much too tight and it would not go over her (non-existent) hips.  Yeah, definitely needs to be able to stretch around as well as in length.  Too bad, because it was really cute.

I did, however, do a much better job with the casing around the arms and neck.  I didn't get the stitching quite close enough to the seam, but it got better and looked pretty decent by the next time I made one.

She was a little disappointed it didn't fit, and pulled really hard trying to get it on.

 My last try went much, much better.  Even the casing look pretty good.  Luckily, Dorothy was excited to get to choose more fabric (uh, oh, she might be turning into me a little bit) and a design to put on yet another leotard.  This time, she went with a jade green lycra with glitter sparkles all over, and a hot pink dinosaur.  Rawr! 

It's hard to capture the glittery-ness.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The dinosaur is made with a stretch material I had sitting in a box that was bright pink, but nearly sheer.  It wouldn't work for a full leotard, but is fine for appliques.

Waiting for class to start.  The shoulders are set a tiny bit wide, so next time I'll trim them in a bit.  I cut this one a touch larger than the navy one, and it looks like she has a little bit of growing room in it. 

This one seems just a little more comfortable to her.  The legs and girth are a little longer, and she seemed to hardly tug at it at all.

She is pretty strong and can hold this for a good amount of time.  Now, if she would just focus a little, she could actually do some more difficult skills.

This was supposed to be a front kick.  Not quite there yet.

I had a lot of fun making these and learned a lot.  I would love to make some more, but she only has class once a week, so I think two leotards are more than enough.  I certainly wouldn't buy her more than one if I was buying them.  I justify the two because they were "free" since the fabric was just sitting here, but I need to wait and not make more until she outgrows these.

School Lunches V

Well, I have a bunch of lunch photos stockpiled, so I better get this done before the kids go back to school on Monday.

This was the day after Thanksgiving break.

1.  Turkey and cheese sandwich on a Hawaiian roll with ketchup and mustard. (He declared this the best sandwich ever despite not liking the turkey when we had it for Thanksgiving dinner.)
2.  3 grape tomatoes, 3 baby carrots, and one small piece of broccoli with ranch for dipping.
3.  Laffy Taffy
4.  sour cream and onion bunnies
5.  Mandarin orange
6.  raspberries
7.  cranberry sauce

1.  roasted red pepper hummus
2.  apple slices, pomegranate, and raspberries
3.  Wheat thins
4.  green olive, mini pepperoni, cheese, and turkey chunk toothpick skewers
5.  baby carrots and one pea pod

Not lunch, but when it was our turn to supply snack in December, I got creative and made a snowflake out of Jack cheese and filled in the background with fresh blueberries and blackberries.  Yes I know snowflakes are six sided, but this was simple and fit well on the platter.  It was surprisingly easy to put together and I think the kids liked it.  My son said he had two helpings.

1.  Dots
2.  ham and cheese roll-ups
3.  Parmesan garlic pretzel chips
4.  blackberries
5.  roasted pumpkin seeds and freeze dried bananas
6.  Mandarin orange
7.  raspberry granola bar
 

1.  Mandarin orange, raspberries, and apple slices
2.  black cherry Greek yogurt
3.  granola
4.  cinnamon sweet potato crackers
5.  garlic bread

1.  popcorn 
2.  apple pumpkin muffin with cream cheese
3.  prunes and dried apricots
4.  cottage cheese
5.  blackberries

1.  mac & cheese (put in the container in the morning)
2.  blueberries and blackberries
3.  salad of mixed greens with sliced baby carrots, croutons, and poppy-seed dressing

1.  sour cream and onion bunnies
2.  ham and cheese sandwich with ketchup and mustard on half a sesame seed bun
3.  roasted pumpkin seeds and raisins (under the Tootsie Roll)
4.  grapefruit slices
5.  raspberry lemonade fruit twist

1.  pineapple, black olive pizza
2.  cheese roll-ups
3.  baby carrots
4.  blueberries and blackberries
5.  ranch dip
6.  apple cranberry graham-cracker cookies

1.  Caesar salad
2.  Twizzler
3.  Goldfish crackers
4.  vanilla yogurt with blueberries and blackberries

 

 1.  two mini taco shells with shredded cheese, chopped cucumbers, and chopped tomatoes (under the cucumbers)

2.  sesame bread sticks

3.  prunes and dried apricots (under the breadsticks)

4.  apple slices

5.  milk

1.  roasted red pepper hummus and green olives on a tortillas, cut into pinwheels

2.  cheese cubes and mini pepperoni
3.  ranch dip
4.  baby carrots and cucumber slices
5.  prunes and dried apricots
6.  half a banana

1.  roasted pumpkin seeds and freeze dried bananas
2.  cream cheese and home made strawberry blackberry jam sandwich, on whole wheat bread, cut into a gingerbread man with raisin buttons held on with cream cheese (it was the last lunch before Christmas break, so I got a little creative)
3.  three cinnamon marshmallows
4.  Mandarin orange
5.  baby carrots and cucumber slices
6.  buffalo pretzel chips

Gymnastics Baby Onesie

When my son was around a year and a half old, he started taking a mommy and toddler gymnastics class.  Four years later, and we are still at it.  He has taken some summer breaks, and recently switched to dance classes, but my daughter is also now in gymnastics.  Between both kids, they have had a handful of instructors, but there is one who we have seen almost continuously.  She is very sweet, and her husband is one of the other instructors my son has had.  They had their first child back in September, and I wanted to make them a little something.  I didn't get it done right away, so it ended up being a baby/holiday/end of year gift.  Neither of my kids currently has her as a teacher, but she is at the gym teaching another class at the same time as when my daughter takes her class, and she always asks about the kids.

I made it in a size a little larger than she is currently wearing, so I hope it will still be cold enough for long sleeves when she grows into it.  I had a hard time finding a good gymnastics themed applique design, but I'm happy with this one.  I like that it something special and personal and I hope that the parents like it.

2012 Pay it Forward Craft Challenge

Last January, I signed up to participate in a pay it forward craft challenge, where I would send a home made something to the first five people who signed up via facebook.  I started off really well, and cranked out the first three; a Kermit shirt, a second Kermit shirt, and some doughnuts like these.  Then, I was working on other projects and put off the crafts I had promised, partly because I kept changing my mind as to what to make.

I felt the end of the year coming, and finally got myself into a "just make something" mode and cranked out my final two crafts.  Both were a Christmas themed kitchen towel and two small cloth snap pouches.

The towels are the same size, just folded differently to show off the designs.  I use the fabric pouches for snacks for the kids, but they can be used for anything small you want to hold, like small toys, kid "treasures," small first aid items, etc.

These were for a friend who has two boys.  Please note how well the stripes match up.  That rarely happens for me, so I was excited when it worked out so well.

This one was for a friend with two young girls.  She told me that the day it arrived, one of the girls was home sick and was sad she was going to miss the holiday program at school.  The package was a nice surprise and her daughter loved her little pouch.  Made me feel good.

I've been making a lot of these pouches lately, and I really like them,  They are quick to make and very functional.  Perfect!

Doll Quilt

I have been really busy making lots of things for Christmas for my kids, my Etsy shop, and for friends who asked for things.  I'll be showing most of those after the new year, but here is a birthday gift I made for my daughter that was hugely time consuming.  My parents brought up my old doll cradle and I made a quilt to fit it, using some of the fabric from the kids' baby bedding set.  I'm not a quilter and have never quilted with my embroidery machine, but thought this would be a good project to give it a try.

I learned a lot and am sort of happy with it.  I wish I had done some things differently, but it is functional, and I think she likes it.

 

Here is the cradle before.  It is pretty obvious that it was purchased around 1977.

 

Here is a close up of the "fabric" (contact paper) in the bed.  It's lovely.

I covered the ugly paper with some of their old baby bedding.  I thought about putting some batting over it to add some cushioning, and to keep it from showing through, but I simply ran out of time.  It is fine and it doesn't bother her at all.

It looks much better already.  I thought about painting the cradle white, but have held off for now.  I might not like the white with the ivory fabric, so am waiting a bit to decide. I can always paint it later, but there is no way I will put int he work to strip it if I paint it and don't like it.

Here is the quilt I made to go with it.  I used squares of the toile baby bedding and plain ivory muslin that I then embroidered with a sweet floral/teddy bear pattern.  It ended up much busier than I had planned and it is visually a bit overwhelming with ivory with red lines over the entire thing.  I wish I had used some solid red to break things up.  Oh well, live and learn.

Here it is in the cradle.  So cute and sweet.

Here is a close up of the quilted embroidery I did.  The good news is that once I got it hooped, the stitching went really well.  I have some ideas for some other projects I can do with these techniques.

I'm glad I tried this and hope to make some more very soon.

School Lunches IV

Next installment in what I feed my kids for lunch.

1.  Goldfish crackers
2.  Crescent roll with pepperoni, pizza sauce, and mozzarella cheese 
3.  3 baby carrots and 3 grape tomaotes
4.  ranch dip
5.  grapes
6.  green and black olives

1.  half of a cinnamon raisin bagel with pumpkin cream cheese
2.  1 prune and 2 dried apricots
3.  green and black olives with feta cheese
4.  Goldfish crackers
5.  half a banana

This was a "I really need to go to the grocery store, but I'm not going to" day.  There is a reason I keep stuff like this in my cabinets and freezer.

1.  pomegranate strawberry granola bar
2.  banana, cinnamon, honey yogurt tube
3.  apple
4.  nacho chips
 

I still needed to go to the grocery store, but we had company, and I didn't have time.  Luckily, there were a few leftovers I could scrape together.

1.  pickles
2.  veggie straws
3.  Whoppers
4.  swiss cheese with ketchup and mustard on a wheat roll
5.  cantaloupe, pineapple, and honeydew

1.  macaroni and cheese went in the empty container in the morning
2.  croutons
3.  salad of Romain, cheese, shredded carrots, yellow tomatoes and ranch dressing
4.  honeydew, blackberries, and pomegranite
5.  Hershey's Cookies and Cream candy bar

1.  original Yoplait strawberry yogurt
2.  watermelon, honeydew, and pomegranite
3.  3 toothpick skewers of swiss cheese, olive, pepperoni, and yellow tomato
4.  Cracklin' Oat Bran cereal
5.  Twizzlers

1.  fruit salad of oranges, apple, banana, and pomegranite
2.  salad of red lettuce, cheese, shredded carrots, and poppy seed dressing
3.  croutons
4.  cottage cheese

1.  nacho chips
2.  salsa
3.  home made apple sauce
4.  2 dried apricots and 1 prune
5.  swiss cheese with ketchup and mustard on a whole wheat roll
6.  milk
7.  peppermint patty

1.  oranges, pomegranate, and a couple of apple chunks that didn't fit in the other container
2.  apple carrot muffin with pumpkin cream cheese and rainsins
3.  string cheese
4.  Nestle Crunch bar
5.  cut up apple
6.  parmesan and garlic pretzel chips

1.  popcorn
2.  string cheese
3.  mango and blackberries
4.  roasted pumpkin seeds with dried raisins, blueberries, cherries, and cranberries
5.  Caesar salad with croutons

 

1.  popcorn
2.  Tootsie Roll
3.  kiwi, mango, and raspberries
4.  cottage cheese
5.  2 yellow tomatoes, green bell pepper, and shredded carrots
6.  ranch dip

1.  apples, strawberries, pineapple, and canteloupe
2.  roasted pumpkin seeds with raisins and 1 prune
3.  whole wheat mini bagel with pumpkin cream cheese
4.  shredded carrots (I meant to put some ranch dip next to the carrots in the morning when the container would be clean, but I forgot.  Oops!)
5.  cinnamon sweet potato crackers
6.  orange Tootsie Roll

1.  Wheat Chex cereal, freeze dried blueberries, and freeze dried bananas
2.  pineapple
3.  antipasta salad with pasta, tomatoes, black olives, green bell pepper, red bell pepper, asiago cheese, parmesan cheese, salami, and pepperoni
4.  cinnamon sweet potato crackers
5.  Whoppers

Swim Towels

So, I did these months ago (in time for my kids' swim lessons this past summer), but I never shared them.  I'm playing catch-up and will try to do a few entries of things that have been long finished.

Last year, we had a towel walk off while we were in the pool for swimming lessons.  It was just a plain one from Target, but I'm pretty sure someone took it on purpose, possibly assuming it was theirs, because it was on the bottom of our stack.  Next year, I won't have to leave the towels unattended because Dorothy will do lessons without me in the water with her.  This past summer though, I still had to go in the pool with her and leave our stuff on the deck.  To possibly slow down any sticky fingers, I wanted the kids' names on their towels in a way that they would not come off.

Dorothy's has two clown fish and Malcolm has a trio of surfboards.  They each want a second towel as a back up since we use a lot of towels in the summer.  I'll let them pick their new colors and designs a little closer to warmer weather.